So here are some of the more interesting pictures I used in my American Literature presentation. I wanted to include them here because I thought they were just too interesting and fun for the slide show. To see the full version of the picture below, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" click on the picture

This entry contains the final portfolio for the Fal 2009 semester of American Literature.
Blogging Portfolio III includes links to
entries from my own blog as well as from classmates' blogs. The portfolio demonstrates
coverage, depth, interaction, discussion, timeliness, xenoblogging and contains
a wild-card entry.

In this blog, I really tried to answer the
specific questions asked by Dr. Jerz, relating to the true identity of John
Henry. I also looked up extra videos on Youtube
to get the full effect of the John Henry songs.

I thought I had a great grasp at what Booker
T. Washington had to say here. I made a comparison between the equality of a
structure created by "Negro Design" and debated the true meaning behind
Washington's words.

This blog solicited two great responses from
my classmates. They really made me open my eyes to see that Tom wasn't such a
bad guy. Plus after the class discussion I realized that I needed to take a
second look at the reading.

Timeliness:These
blogs have been posted early enough to spark discussion before class.

This blog solicited two great responses from
my classmates. They really made me open my eyes to see that Tom wasn't such a
bad guy. Plus after the class discussion I realized that I needed to take a
second look at the reading.

Xenoblogging:These are comments I have left on the
blogs of peers that demonstrate an understanding of the post and promote or
encourage discussion.

The Scarecrow listened carefully, and said, "I cannot
understand why you should wish to leave this beautiful country and
go back to the dry, gray place you call Kansas."

"That is because you have no brains" answered the girl.
"No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of
flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country,
be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home."

Well, I think that pretty much sums up the feeling toward America during late 1800's and early 1900's. No matter how gray or dismal the American landscape was, there was freedom! I think that is what Baum was making comparisons toward throughout the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

In the late 1800's, tensions were high. While World War I actually started in 1914, many events preceded the violence. Starting in the 1880's, European countries were making treaties and allegiances with one another. Now, does that sound a little like the four witches from Oz? The two from the North and South are considered "good" while the East and West witches were the "wicked" ones.

"It startled and won the applause of the South, it interested and won the
admiration of the North; and after a confused murmur of protest, it
silenced if it did not convert the Negroes themselves" (Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, chapter 3, para 2)

Wow. I am so surprised to hear these words coming from W.E.B. Du Bois. The first parts of this chapter are nothing but praise for Booker T. Washington and his struggles to get the African American population onto its feet.

I guess I had always thought of Du Bois and Washington as enemies because of their difference in opinions. Du Bois was a well educated northern man, while Booker T. Washington came from a slave family in the south. Both men were free and making great advances for the African American community, but differed in opinions about how to educate their peers. Du Bois lobbied for a professional education and as his Wikipedia article suggests, Du Bois was the "father of Pan-Africanism."

This praise was short lived, as Du Bois later goes on to say:

Washington distinctly asks that black people give up, at least for the present, three things,--
First, political power,
Second, insistence on civil rights,
Third, higher education of Negro youth,--
and concentrate all their energies on industrial education, the
accumulation of wealth, and the conciliation of the South. This policy
has been courageously and insistently advocated for over fifteen years,
and has been triumphant for perhaps ten years. As a result of this
tender of the palm-branch, what has been the return? In these years
there have occurred:

The disfranchisement of the Negro.

The legal creation of a distinct status of civil inferiority for the Negro.

The steady withdrawal of aid from institutions for the higher training of the Negro

Wow..... What a transformation from his earlier praise. W.E.B. Du Bois took his argument full force by first complimenting Washington and then by breaking down his achievements.

This was said by Booker T. Washington, after the Atlanta Exposition was passed and the Negro monument building was built.

I just find it a little funny that he chose to say that the building was equal in design, beauty and finish to other buildings around it. It almost sounds as if he was surprised that the building was equal because it was built by "Negro mechanics."

Also, taking it to a more figurative sense, if the building represented the Negro community, Booker T. Washington's words are even more resounding. Of course he would point out that the building was equal, because his ideals of education and hard work went hand in hand. Now that African Americans were becoming educated, their work was seen as equal to that of White Americans. Washington even goes on to say that, "The people who seemed to be the most surprised, as well as pleased, at what they saw in the Negro Building were the Southern white people" (para. 25).

All of his traveling, speeches and lobbying were finally paying off. I believe Washington said these words not in surprise, but in realization that his community was actually beginning to be seen as equal, even if it was simply in the structure of a building.

Dr Jerz asked: In what ways is the John Henry story a tall-tale? How is it
social commentary? Is it primarily a story about technology, or about race? Is
it too simplistic to say "both"?

Of course John Henry is a "tall-tale" because no one knows who the real person was. A Wikipedia article on John Henry suggests three possible John Henry figures, but none seem to have enough evidence to prove that John Henry actually existed.

John Henry's story was one of hope. Not only of hope against technology, but also hope for the African American community. So many folk and bluegrass songs pay tribute to John Henry, and his influence is undeniable. NPR has a great article on many songs idealized John Henry, but unfortunalely I had a lot of trouble getting the sound to work. I went onto Youtube and found some of the folk songs listed on the site. One such song, "John Henry" by Henry Thomas is so upbeat that the lyrics hardly matter. This version (1927) was one of the very first sung by an African American performer. I think this definitely suggests that the African American community held on to John Henry as an icon of strength and perseverance in the face of adversity. He was paid for his work and not just treated like a slave.

Another recording, "Spike Driver Blues" by Mississippi John Hurt also by an African American performer, is quite sad. This song talks about how John Henry, "left his hammer/ All over in red" meaning that John Henry worked himself to death. He tried so hard, and even thought he beat the steam drill, but later fell to his death. The sadness is definitely present to lament the rise of technology.

I do believe it is way too simplistic to say that the legend of John Henry is simply just about race or technology. There are a lot of individual pieces that made up the legend. Songs and stories mention John Henry's wife, children, owners, the society he lived in, and much more. To simply sum it up as a story of race and technology would be to undermine his legend.

I also wanted to share one more Youtube video I found while searching for John Henry songs. These two took an old Bluegrass song and turned it into a fast-paced guitar and banjo duo. Here is "John Henry" by Will Poe and Andrew Minor.

"How could someone so talented be so blind, so arrogant, so bigoted?" (Foster 233)

Yes, I agree. But are they really being blind, arrogant and bigoted? Maybe we are not looking at the work in full context.

I fell like, as I was reading literary criticism of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn people were saying this about Mark Twain. Some people who did not recognize the satire in his story took him as being racist. I think this is a bunch of crap.

Seriously? I mean, the guy made some great jokes on society. Lighten up, take a second look.

"And this leads to the point of the last chance for change story... can this person be saved?" (Foster 230)

No. The answer is no. That is all I can think of as I read this passage. Honestly, I don't believe in "last chance for change" because there is truly never a last chance when it comes to change. People are continually changing. Sometimes that change comes to late, but there is never a last chance.

Another part of me wants to say that some people just don't change. Foster referenced a story which the narrator's brother served time for drugs and has since changed his life to become a jazz musician. The narrator only reconnected with his brother after the death of his daughter. While this sounds nice and wonderful, this is not real life. I hate that people always talk about the "last chance for change" stories when they speak about drug culture. That is how lives get ruined.

Talk to any relative of a drug user and they still refer the previous drug user as an addict. Once an addict, always an addict. Believing in the last chance for change will only hurt you more. I used to be one of those people who was always looking for the happy ending. It took many years to realize that sometimes there just aren't happy endings. You can't waste your life on someone who cannot help them self. "Last chance for change" stories simply add to the addicts plea for sympathy. When they say they are doing better, that they have changed, you can never truly be sure.

I'm not sure why I decided to take this into a rant, but I guess I have a hatred for "last chance for change" stories.

"Racial discourse maintains that the 'Negro' exterior is all that a Negro really has" (Smith 365)

Which is exactly why Jim goes against the idea of a "negro." By including Jim in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twian shows that Jim is more than simply a "nigger." Jim has a family that he cares for, intelligence to question Tom Sawyer's foolish plot and the compassion to take care of Huck Finn. Jim has much more than the "Negro exterior."

However it is important to note that, "Jim is not Uncle Tom" (Smith 367). Yes, he patiently endures the afflictions placed upon him by Tom Sawyer, but he is not being portrayed as a figurehead for Chirst. On the contrary, Jim has hs own faults. I think Twain's representation of Jim was a very "middle of the road" type. Jim is not a saint, but he is certainly not just a slave.

Many schools ban the work because it uses the word, "nigger," but I think this is a fantastic time to bring up the discussion of racism. If teachers would include the study of Jim as a person, and the actual contextual use of the word, they would be able to discuss the satire of Twain's language. On the other hand, that may be too tough for a high school class....

"Even Richard Hill, the most enthusiastic defender of the ending, moderates his description of Tom as "brilliant" and "brave" by adding that he "becomes drunk on romanticism and endangers Huck and Jim unnecessarily" (505)" (Scott 188).

I say, baloney! Really now people? Read the sentence again. Being "brilliant" and "brave" does not endanger anyone unnecessarily. That makes absolutely no sense. If you were brilliant you would not do anything unnecessarily. Also, while Kevin Michael Scott makes some great points in his essay, I still am not convinced that Tom was brought in to do good.

I think Twain included Tom Sawyer to demonstrate how much Huckleberry Finn had changed throughout the novel. Huck had become more grown up than Tom who was still stuck in his boyish phase. Huck could not see the point in any of Tom's endeavors, but simply went along with it because that was just his nature.

William Cole mentions that, "every character is, by nature of the creative process, born stereotypical." Each character in the novel is introduced with a specific purpose and mindset. Tom was introduced into the story simply because Mark Twain wanted poke fun at the "romanticized southern society" (Scott 187).

" The afflicted character can have any number of problems for which heart disease provides a suitable emblem.... Socially it may stand for these matters on a larger scale, or for something seriously amiss at the heart of things" (Foster 209)

Ha, nice pun Foster!

Anyway, I do believe that this is true. Many characters have "heart problems" that siginfy something else is amiss. Take the narrator in The Tell-Tale Heart Edgar Allen Poe. His heart beating so loudly and harsh that he was forced into confessing his sin. His heart wanted to tell the truth and was ready to burst open to do so!

Also, in other works, many people have a "bad heart" in the literal and figurative sense. Scrooge, the main character of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol was only convinced to change his ways by the third ghost, Death. His heart was bad in a literal sense that he was on his death bed, and also, his heart had been bad throughout the story because he was a rude, selfish person.

"Of course, concern over lower-glass delinquents continued and was simply compounded by fears that the sons of respectable, bourgeois families were also threatened by corrupting models of bad boy behavior in and out of texts" (Mailloux 45)

While I can see this point in relation to Huckleberry Finn, I don't see a huge connection here. I mean, I don't think Huck's behavior was extremely delinquent, he was simply a child without parents and stability. Yes, he did swear and lie and steal watermelons, but was he really such a bad role model?

Throughout the novel Huck struggled with issues of morality and always seemed to make the right choices. He was a mischievous boy, who many critics of the time misunderstood. They should have taken the time to focus on the real moral images in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and not harped on the bad role model presented in Huckleberry.

It is here that we find the true fate of Huckleberry Finn's Pap. Apparently he had been dead the entire time Huck was floating down the Mississippi with Jim. But what I find even more interesting is that once this line is said, Huck moves from that subject to talking about Tom Sawyer so quickly. No emotion, no extra thought, nothing is said about Pap. Huck doesn't tell us if he was happy, sad or unfeeling, he just continues right on to the end of the story.

This leaves me wondering how much he truly cared for Pap. He quotes him often while floating down the river. "Pap always said it warn't no harm to borrow things" (Twain 124). Here it seems as if Huck is already speaking of Pap as dead (past tense). Maybe in his own mind, Pap was dead to Huckleberry Finn. Huck was now free and obviously had no plans of going back to live with him, but it still seems like there was some bond there. Huck mentions that for a bit he enjoyed living with his father and he, "didn't see how [he'd] ever got to like it so well at the widow's" (Twain 90). This lasted for a short time, but once Pap had too much alcohol, Huck decided it was time to leave.

I'm still ambiguous about just how much Huck cared for his father. I think he enjoyed the freedom of his father's lifestyle, but knew he was better off somewhere else. He never mentions missing his father though out the novel like Jim is mentioned lamenting over his family. I think maybe Huck just wanted his freedom more than he wanted the love of a parent.

Book topics include: How to Read Literature Like A Professor, selected poems of Edgar Allen Poe and Emily Dickinson, Uncle Tom's Cabin (Play Version), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and more! I
have included links to entries from my own blog as well as from classmates'
blogs. The portfolio demonstrates coverage, depth, interaction, discussion,
timeliness, xenoblogging and contains a wild-card entry.

Coverage:
A complete list of blogs thus far.

Free at Last : The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Introduction by Smith, H. N.)

Xenoblogging: These are comments I have
left on the blogs of peers that demonstrate an understanding of the post and
promote or encourage discussion.

Uncle Tom's Cabin, IIUncle Tom's Cabin (Xenoblogging) - With this blog, I tried to
foster a discussion within the class about the relationship between Eva and
Pearl. I thought that it went well, and we actually discussed this in class.

Okay everyone, so after watching the poem recitations in class, I have a confession to make. I cannot listen to any rendition of Annabel Lee without hearing the voice of the characters from George Higham's film adaptation of the poem... courtesy of Dr. Arnzen and Introduction to Literary Study.

I searched around on Youtube to find a link to the movie, but alas no luck. I did however remember about a spoof on the film done by Kayla Lesko, Karyssa Blair, Christina Celona, and Jed Fetterman. It's great and you should check it out. The spoof starts about 2:25 into the video.

"For not only does the River connote freedom; the Shore connotes slavery, bondage in a more general sense than the actual servitude of Jim" (329)

This point kept coming back to me throughout the novel. River = freedom, fun, good; Shore = slavery, bondage, bad....

When Jim and Huck are floating down the river they seem to have a good time and nothing really harms them. It is only when the come to the shore that they face people like the king and the duke, and get into trouble. Huck says, " You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft" (Twain 177). Indeed, he felt like he was able to be free and at ease on the raft, but that was not so on the shore. Huck was always feeling uncomfortable and uneasy at the Widows place. "It was a rough time living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; so when I couldn't stand it no longer, I lit out," remarks Huck (Twain 70). He wanted out, away from the Shore.

Even for Jim, the shore didn't just represent slavery. On the shore he had his foot bit by the snake, he was forced to live in the swamp while Huck was with the Grangerfords, and he was taken prisoner on Silas Phelps' Farm. The land was just no good for him either. While on the River, Huck and Jim seemed to have much more peaceful times. In fact Huck says, "two or three days and nights went by; I reckon I might say they swum by, they slid along so quiet and smooth and lovely" (Twain 177). On the river Huck and Jim were equals, both sharing in the work and traveling together.

"I reckon you ain't used to lying, it don't seem to come handy; what you want is practice" (Twain 245)

The passage above, spoken by Levi Bell to Huck Finn, during the inquisition of the king and duke, was taken as an insult by Huck! How dare this lawyer tell him that he did not know how to lie! That's what his whole adventure consisted of, and Huck thought he was darn good at it too.

I think this passage plays into the morality issue of Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck is torn between his mischievous side, and the part of him that wants to do right. Earlier in the story he had wanted to do the "right" thing by turning Jim in, but decided against it. Huck still struggled with this issue throughout the story. At one point, when Huck found out that Jim had been sold by the king, he decided that he would "go to hell" rather than give Jim's chance at freedom. Huck was taught that by lying about Jim's whereabouts and true owner he was committing a large sin. But I think the good deed he did was far greater.

Despite his white lies, Huck was trying to save Jim. Even though they ended up in quite a few tight spots, Huck talked their way out. So I think, in this instance, his lies may be for the best.

"You don't know about me, without you have read a book by the name of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," but that ain't no matter"

Yes, these are the words of Huckleberry Finn not of Holden Caulfield, but they sound so much alike! When I began reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I was struck by how similar the two are!

I had read both Catcher in the Rye and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in high school, but never made the connection. In fact I am sure that I may not have made the connection now, except for the fact that I read Catcher in the Rye last semester during Young Adult Literature.

In truth, both characters have a lot of similarities. Both are dissatisfied with their current lives and embark on a journey. While Holden only goes to New York City, Huckleberry Finn finds himself rafting down the Mississippi. Along the way both encounter obstacles and must overcome them, taking away personal significance from these experiences. They really do parallel each other, and even the attitude seems to be the same. Holden and Tom Sawyer have the same, "tough guy" type of speech. They are a very angst(y), young type of protagonist.